Masteries

Offense:
1

Defense:
21

Utility:
8

Introduction

Inspired largely by Nasus - The Demolisher. The main difference is I make him a little less tanky and a little more off-tanky by getting him Tiamat right after Sheen. The much-maligned Tiamat you can think of as Doran's big brother - an item that isn't super great, but good enough that you don't necessarily have to sell it if you put big-tag items in your other slots. Usually I like Philosopher's Stone for MP5 and HP5, but Nasus needs all the help he can get farming hard early to be a presence later on. Tiamat is sort of just barely enough AD for Nasus, since he mostly builds as a trinity tank and isn't going to go crazy with Infinity Edge anyway. Ultimately, I find the ability to farm a little more gold helps him snowball in a way that balances out an occasional lost Siphoning Strike.

If you upvote this, go upvote The Demolsiher, too. If you're the only non-squishy on the team, then this build isn't quite tanky enough, and something like The Demolisher should work better. But I've put some thought into some general-purpose tips that may be worth reading in any case.

Good players know that they should try to deny Nasus, but you might have some luck using Spirit Fire to simultaneously weaken minions and to harass enemy champs. Run in so that you can finish off that minion with Siphoning Strike and you're golden.

Of course it's nice when they leave you alone and you don't have to use Spirit Fire just to farm. In that case, just try to last hit with Siphoning Strike. Note that pressing Q resets the auto-attack timer, making a noticeable difference when your ASpd is low - finish off that minion with the old one-two: land one auto-attack, press Q almost at the same time, and then quickly finish off with RYAAUUH!! Overleveling Q is a good idea if you can last-hit with it almost as often as it goes off of cooldown.

Also, I like to siphon-farm the tiny minions that accompany the buffs on your side of the river, and sometimes the wraiths, wolves, and baby golems as well. Don't do this and annoy your jungler if you have one, though. If Q is leveled up, run in circles to avoid killing without Q in some circumstances.

One more note: You can farm Siphoning Strike better with Sheen than with Tiamat, depending on the circumstances. If you are left to free-farm, it's rather easy to last-hit, wait around, and then last hit the next one. But if a lot is going on, you might not get more than one or two minions per wave whether you have Tiamat or not. Regardless, I put Tiamat after Sheen in the main build because sometimes I find that stage of the game sometimes favors the burst damage and slightly better Siphon farming.

Later on

Know that nightmare when you run but you don't go anywhere, sand is blasting you in the face, and an enraged jackal is running after you? It's kinda like that for them. Fury of the Sands is best used when you need the extra 600 health, like when you don't want to have to disengage from a fight you'd otherwise have to. Wither and Exhaust can be used back-to-back if they don't die the first time. Once you have Trinity Force, you can get a few attacks on them and probably get a Phage proc on them during your main slow(s).

EDIT: They changed this skill a little since I first wrote what follows. Half of its damage is dealt all at once, which means that you would prefer to actually hit them with it initially if you can, compared to how it was before. This has to factor in to your timing and placement now.

This can be a tricky spell, as there's a slight delay. Basically, you have to either anticipate where they're headed, get them stunned, or use it to separate enemies and create dilemmas. If two enemies are somewhat far from each other, then place Spirit Fire so that one has to run through it to get away, and the other has to run through it to help out. You can also use it on a region enemies have to run through to get to an imperiled ally.

This build is too squishy to really tank hardcore during Fury of the Sands. If there are just 2 or maybe 3 enemies around and they can't CC you, then maybe you can get by on your ult and some lifesteal, but for the most part, you don't want to get focused too much with this setup. 3100 health isn't incredible. Better teammates should keep them off you to some extent, though.

You can eventually sell Tiamat for one of the others once your Q is farmed up, but watch your mana in team fights.

Pros / Cons

Pros:
* Focuses on Siphon-farming
* Lanes well
* Hard-hitting offtank
* Carries around two slows
* Great when paired with an AD carry and a tank
* Pushes hard
* Sort of decent temporary tank with Fury of the Sands, but don't get crazy
* Side-jungling early-mid-game strongly encouraged if you have no full-time jungler

League of Legends is a team based, real time strategy game set in a mythical world of swords & magic where epic battles decide the fate of mystical nations. Game players take on the role of a Summoner who conjures and controls champions to fight for them at the Institute of War. During game play champions gain experience and items to enhance their skills and abilities. How players develop and play their champions can be the difference between a crushing defeat or a glorious victory!